Bubblegum


Ruby's lips taste like bubblegum and it doesn't make a bit of sense because Sapphire swears up and down that Ruby never chews the bubblegum sort of gum but rather those intense sort of flavors you use to keep yourself awake during an especially boring lecture, like Hot Tamales you never swallow.

So she asks if it's a kind of perfume Ruby's wearing, or a lipstick, and Ruby just pulls away from the kiss and laughs and Me, wearing lipstick? she asks, and then she adds, Or perfume? And she laughs some more and says, No, that's ridiculous, don't be silly, I'm not all proper like you.

And Ruby looks at her with a sort of longing sigh as the words come out, eyes going up and down as though they are Very Different People, as though it doesn't make a bit of sense that they're wrapped together like this, as though all the signs say that they shouldn't work, that quiet, daydreaming, honor student Sapphire could never get along with the strong, fearless, sports star Ruby. Never like this.

And maybe it's just Sapphire being stuck-up or arrogant or cold or heartless or whatever else it is people like to whisper about her (When they're just jealous of your grades, says Ruby), but Sapphire knows that they're not so different, and knows that those rough, calloused hands do more than hold lacrosse sticks, because they also hold other hands, and they comfort, and they heal, and in that way they are very much Proper, just like the person they belong to.

And so Sapphire says, You are proper in your own way, Ruby, and I am proper in mine, and that's fine, and there's nothing wrong with that.

And Ruby asks, You're saying we're not complete opposites?

And Sapphire answers, We're not as different as you think.

And Ruby stops a moment and does that thing she does sometimes where she just stares in Sapphire's eyes and Sapphire feels her face turn very red but then Ruby smiles real big and leans in for another kiss.

"Maybe you're right," Ruby admits. "We're both fabulous kissers."